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Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication

​In 2010 almost 1 in 20 adolescents and adults – 12 million people – used prescription pain medication when it was not prescribed for them. While many believe these drugs are not dangerous because they are prescribed by a doctor, abuse often leads to dependence. And eventually, for some, pain medication abuse leads to heroin use and addiction.

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​In 2010 almost 1 in 20 adolescents and adults – 12 million people – used prescription pain medication when it was not prescribed for them or only for the feeling it caused. While many believe these drugs are not dangerous because they can be prescribed by a doctor, abuse often leads to dependence. And eventually, for some, pain medication abuse leads to heroin.Top Figure: 1 in 15 people who take non medical prescription pain relievers will try heroin within 10 years.Left Graph: Number of people who abused or were dependent on pain medications and percentage of them that use heroin. Pie charts show in 2004 1.4 million people abused or were dependent on pain medications and 5% used heroin. In 2010, 1.9 million people abused or were dependent on pain medications and 14% used heroin.Right Top Graph: Heroin users are 3 times as likely to be dependent. 14% of non medical prescription pain reliever users are dependent. Yet, 54% of heroin users are dependent.Right Bottom Graph: Heroin emergency room admissions are increasing. In 2005 there were less than 200,000 emergency room visits related to heroin. By 2011 this number had increased to almost 260,000.References for Abuse of Prescription Pain Medications Risks Heroin Use